Finding Your Way
by sylvanharlequin
Summary: After the Avatar defeated Ozai, Zuko became Fire Lord, but no one ever said it would be easy. A horriffic event causes Zuko to go on a journey to find his way again.
1. Prologue

**_-One year after the comet_**

A groan came from the huddled figure when he felt someone shaking his shoulder. All he wanted was a few more minutes to rest his eyes. The shaker, however, was very persistent and eventually the figure had no choice but to straighten up and open his eyes. The pile of papers he had fallen asleep on shifted as he righted himself. The morning light stung his eyes as he tried to open them.

"You know, you could at least come to bed at night."

The deadpan voice helped shake the groggy Fire Lord from his stupor.

"Mai?"

"Well done, Zuko. I'm glad you still remember your girlfriend."

Something was not quite right and the moment the cobwebs cleared from his head he would figure it out. He knew it had something to do with the young woman who was currently glaring at him, her usually carefully guarded expression clearly annoyed. Mai clearly portraying any emotion was something that deserved notice and in this case possibly concern on the Fire Lord's part. Zuko decided to proceed with caution.

"Of course I remember you Mai. What's wrong?"

"What's wrong? What's wrong is that I spend an entire night worrying about you and then I find that you've fallen asleep at your desk again."

"I'm sorry, Mai. I was just trying to finish off these reports. For some reason every quill pusher in my government feels the need to bring every little problem all the way to me."

"Well why don't you tell them to take care of some of this themselves?" Mai asked one eyebrow well on its way towards her hairline.

"Because I've seen some of the suggestions included in the reports." Zuko made a grimace to show whaat he thought of some of the suggestions made by local governors, mayors and bureaucrats in general.

The second eyebrow joined the first. "Then replace them, Zuko. You are the Fire Lord, you know. You can do that."

Zuko gave a tired sigh. "Actually Mai, I can't. Not without further weakening the stability we've built up over the past year. And they're not all incompetent just some of them." He hated this discussion. It came up every so often. Mai felt that the newest batch of local government officials were not up to scratch since Zuko had let the people choose from amongst themselves to fill certain positions in an attempt to draw the population into the rebuilding process and quash any warlike sentiments in his people. The problem was that you didn't always get reliable bureaucrats that way. Mai attributed it to bad breeding, Zuko attributed it to bad luck and nepotism. Either way he didn't feel like a full on fight with his girlfriend before breakfast.

"Mai, I think I'll go freshen up. See you at breakfast?"

Mai gave him a look that he couldn't quite read and nodded. As she left his study Zuko made his way to the bathroom deciding that if sleeping on your desk was murder on your back then a hot bath would be the cure.

* * *

"WOOOHOOOO!!!!"

Katara groaned. She knew that sound. Aang was riding the elephant Koi again. They were visiting Kyoshi Island with Toph and Sokka. To put it more exactly, Sokka was visiting Suki and Aang was goofing off while the girls hung around waiting for the gang to pick up and go again. Toph had been mildly interested in visiting the home of one of the most powerful earthbenders in history but since there was no Kyoshi to throw rocks at the novelty had worn of quickly. As for Katara, she would have liked to spend some time with Suki and the other warriors but everyone always seemed to be too busy for her. As a result both of them were ready to head back out into the world.

In the room next to Katara's there was the sound of angry feet stomping around and moments later a giant hole appeared in the wall.

"Sugar Queen! Does he have to do that?" Katara looked at the diminutive earthbender in front of her. Toph was not a morning person and Aang had insisted on riding the elephant koi (or the unagi) every morning. The girls had woken up to the vocal evidence of the boy's enjoyment more than once.

"I'm serious. He's your boyfriend, so I'm holding you responsible."

"C'mon, Toph. You know how much he wanted to ride the elephant koi."

"Yeah well, I really want to throw a boulder at his head every time he does that and I'm not down at the beach. Yet."

"Well, either way we're up now so let's get dressed and have some breakfast."

By way of answer Toph slammed the hole in her bedroom wall shut. Katara made a mental note to tell Aang to beware of the ground suddenly opening up underneath his feet and got up to get started on another day on the little island.

* * *

After a breakfast that had seen Zuko and Mai agree not to fight about the little things anymore, Zuko rushed of to his first meeting. When he got to his study the Chamberlain was already there looking through the day's schedule. The man's love of maps, schedules and meat invariably reminded Zuko of a certain Southern Water Tribe Warrior. For some time he had been playing with the idea of introducing his chamberlain to Sokka and putting a large platter of meat in front of them. He was honestly curious which one would eat more though he didn't doubt that they would both have stomach aches in the morning. A dry cough brought the young Fire Lord out of his reverie. The chamberlain was starting to fidget and could clearly not contain himself any longer.

"My lord, we must go through the schedule. If we wait any longer we will be so behind we might as well throw it out." _Two platters of meat_ Zuko decided before getting down to the business of ruling his beloved nation.

After having cut the chamberlains schedule down to a more manageable size, which is to say Zuko was free to plan in his own toilet breaks as the need arose, Zuko was running late to his meeting with the minister of agriculture.

"Will that be all Rin? We can't keep minister Lu Zhi waiting too long."

"Actually, my lord, there is one more thing. We are two weeks away from the celebration to mark the end of the Hundred Year War one year ago. Has your Majesty thought about organizing a little something to mark the occasion?"

"A year already?" Zuko hadn't realized that he had been Fire Lord for a year already. If he was honest with himself he knew roughly when the anniversary of his peace decleration was. He also knew that he was expected to throw a ball at the very least and probably a festival if Rin got his way. The chaimberlain was insufferably fond of formal events. Looking over at the man in quiestion Zuko could see the hope shining in his eyes. He supposed he owed Rin the favour of a party since the man singlehandedly kept the Fire Lord governing the Fire Nation.

"Very well, Rin. You may put something together if you wish. Something small, I don't want a repeat of the coronation ball." Zuko had to repress a shudder as he remembered the monstrous affair that Rin had put together to celebrate the new Fire Lord and the end of the war. The number of dignitaries had almost made Zuko run to Ba Sing Se to drag his Uncle Iroh back and put him on the throne. It was then that he had learnt to keep a careful eye on Rin's planning when it came to potentially large events. The man had no self-restraint.

"Probably because he doesn't have to wear the damn robes." Zuko muttered as he stalked off to his meeting.

* * *

Katara was just finishing her breakfast when her brother came in with his arm wrapped around Suki's waist. The two of them were discussing something in hushed tones. As they were sitting down Katara caught Sokka looking at her strangely.

"What? Do I have something on my face?"

"No. No. Suki and I were just wondering what Aang did to tick you ladies off."

"Excuse me?" Katara knew that Sokka had a tendency to draw conclusions out of the blue but Suki was usually more level headed.

"Well, if you and Toph aren't mad at him why is he buried in the ground and drenched in water?" Sokka looked like he didn't know whether to be smug at having caught his sister out or be very cautious to avoid ending up in a hole next to Aang with water dripping from his nose. He decided to play it safe and put on what he hoped was a neutral expression.

"O no! Toph must have gotten to him before I could warn him. She hates it when he wakes her up because he's surfing elephant koi."

Before her brother could utter and understanding "Oh" Katara was out the door yelling for Toph to let her boyfriend out of the ground. Sokka settled for shrugging his shoulders and digging into the well laid breakfast table in front of him. When caught Suki looking at him with a slightly worrying cast to her eyes he felt the need to reassure her.

"Fey'll ee fy."

"I know that Sokka, but didn't you just have breakfast at my place?" Swallowing his mouthful Sokka grinned at her.

"A warrior never leaves a good meal lying around. You never know when you're gonna need your strength."

* * *

**A/N: Yes it's slow. Yes it's short. Yes it's just this side of predictable. It's the prologue, what do you want? I hope to have the next chapter up sometime soon but my lack of a timetable might frustrate that particular aim. I'm not really sure where this is going though I have some general ideas. Feel free to leave me some hints as to what you would like to see in this story.**

_**To see a world in a grain of sand,  
**__**And a heaven in a wild flower,  
**__**Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,  
**__**And eternity in an hour.**_


	2. Chapter 1

**_I do not own any part of Avatar: the Last Airbender. I just enjoy twisting it suit my immagination._**

* * *

Toph stretched herself and slowly opened her eyes. The action didn't notably change her perception of the world around her, but judging by the temperature in her room Twinkletoes had managed to keep his mouth shut this morning. She didn't even try to hold back a smile. Yesterday she had dumped her earthbending pupil far enough into the ground that he couldn't bend himself out and left him there until he agreed to let her sleep in the mornings and not go yelling his head off like a hogmonkey. Sugar Queen was probably gonna give her hell for the next few days but judging from the vibrations in the next room Katara was enjoying a sleep in as well. Getting up, Toph decided that breakfast was first and an earthbending lesson for a certain hapless avatar was second. If he was goofing off this much she must be slipping up as his sifu. Besides she wouldn't put it past him to spend the day finding some other noisy activity if she didn't take some time to beat some sense into him.

When she got down to the breakfast table she could feel him sitting there. Actually she was surprised the whole island couldn't feel him. She smiled to herself. He must be very nervous and as far as Toph was concerned that was nothing but good. As she sat down she felt him hurriedly getting up.

"I'll just get going, Toph. See you later." Before he could make to the door she stopped him.

"Not so fast, Twinkletoes. We haven't trained in way to long and you're clearly starting to get rusty if I can trap you that easily." With some satisfaction she felt Aang slump, resigned to a tougher day than he had seen in the past few weeks.

After Toph had finished breakfast the two young benders went outside to loosen up with a sparring match. Toph had a lot of fun finally throwing rocks at someone and Aang wasn't nearly as rusty as Toph had made him out to be. The result was that the rest of their gang had enough time to come out and enjoy a little breakfast entertainment. The sun was a good deal higher than when Toph and Aang had started.

"Allright, Twinkletoes. Let's see you armor up." Obediently Aang covered himself in a rock suit. Almost lazily Toph hurled a rock at him. He dodged it easily and threw one back. Toph didn't bother dodging, preferring to just smack the rock out of the air. Hearing a disgruntled shout she snickered. Snoozles had just learned why you don't stand too close to a pair of earthbenders. She threw another rock at her pupil holding his rock encased feet in place with her bending. A surprised grunt told her he was going to have to think 'rocklike' or be squashed. For once she wished she had regular sight so she could get a better look at his face. Moments later she heard the rock shatter as Aang batted it to the side.

"Better, "Twinkletoes, much better."

"Toph, look out!" Automatically Toph dropped into an alert bending stance, ready to face any incoming attacks. Her ability to feel things through the earth however proved thouroughly useless as something smacked into her head at high speed.

"Ow. Is it too much to ask for a heads up that includes the direction of any flying objects."

"Sorry, Toph. My bad" She could hear the grin in Snoozle's voice. A movement of her foot made sure that a rock spur wiped it off his face.

"So? What hit me?" The group gathered around and Sugar Queen picked the whatever-it-was up off of the ground.

"It's a scroll." She sounded surprised, but Toph was busy with something else entirely.

"Who in Koh's name is stupid enough to throw a scroll at me."

"A hawk dropped it." Katara told her as she unrolled the scroll. A hawk. That put a stop to Toph's quickly forming revenge plans. No way could she see a hawk.

"It's from Zuko! He's inviting us to a celebration to honor the end of the war."

"A party at Sparky's?! What are we waiting for?" Hawks might be out of a blind earthbender's reach but there was no such restriction on young, moody Fire Lords. Revenge would still be her's.

* * *

Zuko had finally found a moment that wasn't completely filled with dignitaries, ministers and supplicants. It was a rare treat and he was planning to use it to catch up on some bending practice. None of his trainers were attending. Zuko needed to train himself properly and while the trainers were each masters of firebending as it had been taught under Ozai, Zuko had studied under Iroh. He was getting tired of explaining that certain forms were not mistakes but a deliberate adaptation based on another bending style.

First up was meditation. Zuko did not want thoughts about taxes, crop yields and foreign relations clouding his mind. Sitting down in the middle of the practice arena, the Fire Lord lit a fire in each palm and focused on his breathing. Slowly he felt his pulse and his thoughts calming. He was about to get up and start bending when a servant ran up to him.

"My Lord! The Avatar's flying bison has been spotted over the city. It will land in a few minutes."

Zuko ran straight for the landing area he had commissioned upon assuming the throne so that the avatar could visit whenever he wished. He arrived just in time to see Appa touch down. The first one down was the avatar himself, floating down on a cushion of air.

"Zuko!" Before he knew it Zuko had been wrapped up in a hug from his firebending pupil.

"It's good to see you too, Aang."

"Sparky!" Sokka had jumped down and grabbed Zuko's arm in a warriors greeting. Suki opted for a hug as well. Toph settled for punching the Fire Lord in the arm and getting her hair ruffled in response.

"My, my, nephew. What uncharacteristic displays of affection." Zuko looked up, his surprise evident, to see his uncle being helped down from the sky-bison's saddle by a Kyoshi warrior and a figure in blue. Unable to contain himself he ran over to greet his uncle.

"You should come over more, old man." Iroh smiled. He knew Zuko hated spending all his time closeted up without family and he was getting nowhere in the search for Ursa. Bowing Zuko turned to the girl in traditional Kyoshi uniform.

"Thank you for accompanying my uncle, miss"

"Zuko! You don't have to be so formal with me."

"Ty Lee?" The usually pink clad acrobat jumped him, throwing her arms around him.

"Your aura is looking much clearer than the last time I saw you!"

"Thanks, I think." Finally Zuko turned to Katara.

"You know Uncle, if you can't even get down off of Appa by yourself anymore maybe I should have a palanquin take you to your room." With a grin he ducked under playful slaps from both his uncle and his best friend.

"Typical peasant. Absolutely no manners, attacking your host before he's even said 'hello'." Zuko smiled to show he was teasing her. Katara harrumphed.

"If I had attacked you, you would be on your royal backside right now. Besides how can you lecture me on my manners when you're not even wearing a shirt to greet your guests." Smiling the two embraced.

"It's great you all came by. What are you doing here?"

"Uh-oh. Sparky's starting to loose it. We'd better get him out of that stuffy office before he starts acting like Snoozles on cactus juice."

"Toph, what are you talking about?"

"Zuko, you invited us over here. For the grand ball remember?" Zuko stared at Katara completely nonplussed.

"Grand Ball?" Zuko racked his mind trying to remember why he would have sent invitations for a grand ball. _I wouldn't, but Rin might._

"I'm gonna kill Rin. I told him to keep it small." The group started laughing and Sokka couldn't contain himself anymore.

"Ah, there is the Zuko we all know and love." Zuko glared at the young Water Tribe warrior who was wiping a tear away from his eye.

"Don't worry buddy. We're here to back you up now."

"Yeah well. What's done is done. You guys made great time getting here from Kyoshi though. I would have thought that swinging by Ba Sing Se to pick uncle up would have taken you at least two weeks. The invitations can't have been sent off more than a week ago."

"Actually, Nephew, my invitation arrived two weeks ago. Your friends came to get me a week ago so I could be here for the celebrations." Zuko's fists started smoking.

"THAT'S IT!! I'm gonna kill Rin!" Fuming Zuko stalked off into the palace, leaving a laughing group of guests behind him.

"Come on. I will show you to our rooms." Iroh smiled at the rest of the group. Laughing and talking to each other the group got their bags off of Appa and moved into the palace. The long halls provided a pleasant respite from the heat of a summer day in the Fire Nation. The shade provided by the covered walkways made for the perfect temperature and the group was starting to relax. Iroh was regaling them with stories about some of his more colorful customers.

"So the poor fellow runs out of the Jasmine Dragon screaming that there is an actual dragon's heart in his tea." The group couldn't help themselves as they collapsed laughing.

"What's going on here?" The deadpan question effectively killed the merriment for most members of the group. Ty Lee however chose to throw herself at her childhood friend with a squeal.

"Mai!"

"Ty Lee? When did you get here?"

"We arrived a few minutes ago. Don't worry Zuko was surprised too. I think he's going to yell at someone about it."

Mai rolled her eyes but before she could make a caustic remark Iroh smoothly stepped in. "Lady Mai, perhaps you and Miss Ty Lee here could show the ladies to their rooms and I will take the men to their's."

"I'm not a Lady yet, General Iroh. You know that."

Iroh gave a deep chuckle. "Do not give up hope, my dear."

"Very well, General." Turning to the girls in the group Mai seemed to gather herself for something she would rather not do and then abruptly turned around. Without looking back she called out "Well come along then!"

As the girls hurried to catch up to Mai, Iroh led Sokka and Aang down another corridor. The avatar, never being one to suppress his curiosity, was soon pelting Iroh with questions about the Fire Naiton.

"You know young Avatar, these are questions you should be asking Fire Lord Zuko. He will be able to answer your questions far better that an old man living in the Earth Kingdoms."

"Oh. Right, I guess. Why did you call Mai 'Lady Mai'?"

"The Fire Nation is waiting for its lord to marry. Since Lady Mai is his love interest it makes sense that she will become our next Fire Lady?"

Sokka couldn't contain his own surprise at this point. "Sparky's getting married. I really didn't figure him for the marrying type."

Smiling Iroh nodded. "My nephew will agree with you on that point. He is making no moves to propose to the Lady Mai. He wants the nation to be stable before he looks to his own life. What he can't see is that it hurts her that he will not at least commit to her in a more public manner."

"I don't know how he sees anything she feels." Sokka grumbled. Laughter rang down the halls in a way that it had not for a long time.

Eventually the trio stopped in front of a door and Iroh indicated that Sokka shoud enter. As the Water Tribe warrior threw the door open his jaw dropped open. The entire room was done in shades of blue. Along one wall there was an arms stand for Sokka's wolf armour along another there was a slightly slanted table. A bed fit for a prince stood next to the arms stand and in one corner there was a closet. The room was finished with a sitting corner with a low table. After he was done expressing his joy about Zuko's decision to put an appropriate arms stand in his room, Sokka turned to the slanted table.

"Ok, the arms stand in all its manly glory I understand. Sparky knows I'm the greatest warrior alive. But what's with the table."

"Ah, yes. The Fire Lord had that designed for you by an old friend of yours. The Mechanist apparently uses just such a table when working on his new inventions and the Fire Lord felt that you might appreciate a similar grounding for your ideas."

Sokka's shimmered with unshed tears. "I never thought I'd say this but I love Sparky!"

Aang laughed at his friends antics and turned to Iroh who had a contented look in his eyes. "Iroh will you show me to my room next?" The young avatar's voice betrayed his eagerness to see what his friend had given him by way of a room.

"You guys go ahead I'll see you later." Sokka's voice was a little muffled as he seemed to be trying to press his face through the wood of his design table. He didn't even notice when the door closed behind the old general and the Avatar.

Aang's room turned to be just as appropriate as Sokka's. Zuko seemed to have modeled it on his time at the Wester Air Temple and it even came with an Appa sized opening in the wall on the lee side of the palace. The entire room made the young airbender happier than he remembered being for a long time with the possible exception of his and Katara's first kiss. With that happy thought he sat down to meditate before dinner.

_**

* * *

**_

And that was the first chapter.

_**I hope you can appreciate that I let the Gaang settle in a little first. The excitement and adventure need a reason for happening after all. Let me know what I can improve on.**_


	3. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender. I own a slightly off kilter imagination that latched on to someone else's creation.**

* * *

In the evening the Avatar and his friends enjoyed a private dinner with the Fire Lord and his company. They were using a small room set apart from the main dining hall and an extremely nervous looking man who was identified as Zuko's chamberlain was serving dinner. It had been designed by a Fire Lord who had decided that he needed an enclosed space to be able to get away from his guests every so often during a banquet. A need that both Zuko and Iroh claimed was entirely valid. During the successive remodeling that usually accompanied the ascension of a new Fire Lord what had emerged was a comfortable family dining room. Although Iroh assured them that Zuko still put the room to its original use on a regular basis.

"You try listening to the Prime Ministers tedious stories about how glorious the nation is for the entire duration of a banquet, Uncle. For Agni's sake the man has never even left the capital!" Had been the young rulers response earning him a hearty round of chuckles from his guests. Now they were all indulging in a cup of tea brewed by Iroh himself and liquor that the royal family referred to as "calvados".

"Hmmmm. 'S good, Shuko. Wassit 'gain?" Zuko rolled his eyes at the younger boy's slurred speech.

"It's called calvados, Sokka. It's distilled from fermented apples."

"What's the matter, Snoozles? Can't hold your liquor?"

" 'm a wa'ior. Wa'iorsh ish exshelent dinkersh!" At this point Suki felt the need to intervene and excused herself and a thoroughly inebriated Sokka to the rest of the company and took him to his room. Aang took the opportunity to excuse himself as well citing the journey as a reason for his exhaustion, but not before he had invited Katara to walk him to his room. Left with Ty Lee and Iroh looking meaningfully at him Zuko felt he needed to act as well.

"Uncle will you accompany me on a walk? I have a few things that I wish to discuss with you." Mai looked away from him and his Uncle threw him a dirty look. When Iroh spoke again however, there was no trace of anything but pleasantness in his voice.

"You must excuse an old man to his rest, Fire Lord Zuko. Perhaps you might discuss these things with the Lady Mai?"

"Very well, Uncle. If you must retire, I will be working in my study for a while before bed." Remembering his argument with Mai a few nights earlier he felt compelled to add "But not too long."

Everyone stood up as the Fire Lord rose from the table and left the room, following protocol until he was safely out of the room. Once he was out of earshot, Mai broke down in tears and fled in the opposite direction. Bowing quickly to the Dragon of the West Ty Lee ran after her friend. Iroh sighed heavily and left as well. Not even the cup of tea still steaming on the table could draw the old general. He paced for a while, not quite sure where his feet were taking him, but content to let them lead him there. He was lost in his thoughts. Zuko was ignoring Mai to the point of being insulting. Iroh knew he could not force his nephew to act more cordially to Mai but he felt that he must do something. If left to his own devices, Zuko would try to fix his nation whilst casually destroying any hope he had of a decent private life. He would sacrifice himself to his people in a way that few would understand.

He noticed that his feet had stopped and inspected his surroundings and saw that he was standing outside the Fire Lord's personal study. Sighing he spent a few seconds considering whether or not he should enter. He didn't have a clue as to what he might say to his nephew if he did.

"Damn, that boy's impetuousness must be rubbing off on me." The old general mumbled to himself before knocking on the door and entering without waiting for an answer.

Zuko was sitting at a desk, bent over a pile of paperwork. The pile was far larger than any Iroh remembered his father or brother working on. Some of the scrolls were spilling onto the ground. He walked up to his nephew still unnoticed by the young man who was completely absorbed in the latest problem facing his nation.

"You know, nephew, the Fire Lord is supposed to employ people to see to the day to day running of the nation." Zuko jumped up and whirled around as soon as he heard his uncle start to speak. Seeing who it was he slid out of his defensive crouch.

"Uncle. I thought you were going to sleep." Zuko was looking vaguely suspicious of his older relative.

"An old man has little need of sleep. A young man on the other hand might wish to hurry to his bed if there is a beautiful young lady waiting for him there." The comment elicited a groan from the Fire Lord. _At least some things never change _Iroh thought to himself.

"A young man may rush to his bed, Uncle, but the Fire Lord must rush to his nation." _Or maybe some things do._

"Well said my nephew, but I do not think that it is that cut and dried for one who is both."

"I could put the same argument to you uncle. Besides its not as vague as you seem to think." Iroh felt his temper start to rise. Zuko still knew how to push his buttons.

"I suppose an old man like myself would have some trouble knowing what he is thinking. It seems to this old man however that you are taking far too much on yourself. The stack of papers on your desk is easily three times the size it was during Ozai's reign. You don't have to everything on your own. You should let the quill-pushers do their jobs from time to time. Time you could spend with the Lady Mai." The last sentence came out with heavy emphasis.

"Uncle, if Ozai had bothered serving his nation instead of his megalomania from time to time I wouldn't be saddled with half the paperwork I am. Besides we both know what my spending more time with Mai would lead to."

"A stable home for the nation's ruler?" Iroh inquired meaningfully. His nephew looked disgusted.

"Well I was thinking an engagement forced upon us by an outdated Council of Ministers. You know I can't begin to think of providing a stable home for Mai, before I have provided a stable nation for her first." Iroh felt melancholy strike his soul like he had been physically punched. This young and foolish monarch would give up all chances at his own happiness for the sake of his people. His people who still blamed him for the economic downturn at the end of the war, for the perceived loss of Fire Nation superiority and for the famine that was likely to come. He knew that they would hate him and yet he persisted. Iroh was unsure whether to hug his nephew or slap him upside the head. Instead he turned to leave. Before he walked out the doors though he said:

"Nephew, the nation will not think less of you if you take a moment to get your own life in order. If you let the sins of your ancestors block you from loving then you have succeeded as a monarch and failed as a man. And men are usually happier than monarchs." Having said all he could the Dragon of the West walked to his chambers filled with worry for his nephew and the Lady who loved him.

* * *

After his uncle had left him Zuko found that he was no longer interested in the dispatches his local governors had sent him. After he had read the same sentence five times in half an hour he disgustedly threw the scroll across the room. His uncle had a way of disturbing his convictions that Zuko wasn't sure he liked. He knew he was right to get his nation back on the path to honor. Iroh had said that he shouldn't have to do it alone.

"You are wrong, uncle. Mai hates affairs of state." Dejectedly the Fire Lord decided that anyone who was addressing an empty room as if a conversation partner were still there should not be allowed to tackle matters of national importance. He rose stiffly, his mind casting about for some other productive activity. He didn't want to meditate, he had spent enough time sitting around today. He wanted action. Resignedly he realized that if he started Firebending in the middle of the night the entire palace would come out to see what the commotion was. He needed something less obtrusive. Suddenly a wide grin split Zuko's face. He hurried from the room to his personal chamber.

Some time later, if the guards had been paying enough attention they might have noticed a shadow with a similar grin plastered across its blue face moving away from the Fire Lords residence for some relaxing sword practice. It was the only thing moving across the palace grounds. Most of the residents were asleep or occupied in ways that might send a young monarch's pulse racing.

Zuko didn't pick his route through the shadows with any particular care. After a while the sneaking got to be too easy for his taste though. He needed a challenge like the good old days when he had terrorized his father's soldiers as the Blue Spirit. Deciding that there was no time like the present for a surprise inspection of the guards. On by one the sentries around the compound were visited by a shadow they never even knew existed. To see if they were perhaps focused only on intruders Zuko crossed the walls at random intervals. When he managed to evade all of the men who had been posted around the walls Zuko started back towards his room, resolving to talk to the captain of his palace guard about paying attention to intruders. He was still working out how to hide his own involvement when a sudden cry made him freeze in place.

"ARRGGH!! ZUKO!!!" Reflexively Zuko dived into the shadows under a nearby window. His golden eyes darted around trying to locate the person who had discovered him when everyone else had failed. Before he could see anyone the voice sounded again from the other side of the window.

"Who does he think he is?! He ignores me at every turn. Is it too much to ask for a little bit of attention and understanding when it comes to his girlfriend?"

"Oh c'mon Mai. Give him some time. He's hasn't even been Fire Lord for a whole year yet. I haven't figured out everything there is to being a Kyoshi Warrior yet either."

"Ty, I understand that he is busy but still…. He made time for his uncle and his precious friends."

"Maybe its because of the Avatar? He would have to greet the Avatar and his friends as representatives of the rest of the nations. You're probably exaggerating the situation. Now come here and I'll give you one of my famous Chi-massages." Zuko heard a final huff and someone moving away from the window. He slipped away before he heard anymore conversation that he clearly wasn't supposed to be a part of, making a mental note to do something nice for Ty Lee in the near future. He finally reached the royal family's private gardens, which laid next to his personal chamber. He slowed down. While his nighttime jaunt had helped dispel his musings about his uncle's words, Mai and Ty Lee's conversation had brought them all back.

Zuko sat down beside the turtle-duck pond where he used to sit with his mother. Being there helped him calm down and think things through more rationally. He supposed that he did owe Mai some more attention. After all, she had gone through the hell of being imprisoned in the Boiling Rock to save him. Still he was confused as to why she would share these feelings with Ty Lee and not with him. He decided that if she wanted him to do something about it she had to talk to him about it. He would probably have to take the first step the very next day. They would talk and he would listen to anything she might have to say. Maybe then she would open up to him. Finally after a night that had lasted far longer than necessary the Fire Lord retired to his rest.

* * *

**Well folks there it is. My apologies for not updating sooner but life has been unbelievably hectic. A few points on this chapter:**

**1) calvados is actually a real drink that I happen to enjoy after dinner with a nice strong cup of coffee. I felt that some of the avatar characters might enjoy it as well.**

**2) yes I took the opportunity to rag on the whole Maiko relationship because it reminds me uncomfortably of the worst bits of a few of my relationships. Nothing against the characters themselves, just some good old personal prejudice.**

**3) I had this planned for about 10 chapters but I have a feeling I will run well over that number. But you have to admit this chapter gets a bit more into developing the story (or at least one conflict in the story).**

**Let me know what you think because with zero reviews so far I have to assume that I am either a writing genius and you simply can't find any flaws in my story or that this story leaves you so apathetic that you would hate to put any more energy into it than strictly necessary for reading the chapter.**


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